Child brides blot tribal Pakistan

As international headlines for much of this month focused on the attack on 14-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban, what generally went unnoticed was the outrageous plight of more than a dozen young girls in Pakistan.
Last month, a blood feud between two battling tribes in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan province was settled by a tribal "Jirga" (assembly of elders) that decided to hand over as many as 13 young girls in "vani" - an age-old tribal custom that gives females in marriage to males of another tribal group to settle a dispute.

The punishment was handed down by the Jirga allegedly presided over by a member of the Balochistan provincial assembly, Mir Tariq Masoori Bugti. Members of the legislator's clan, however, denied that he had chaired the Jirga, saying he was in Multan at the time.

On October 9, the Supreme Court took notice of media reports on the issue and summoned Mir Tariq as well as the deputy commissioner of Dera Bugti to explain the facts of the case.
"Mir Tariq absolutely did chair that Jirga; you can ask anyone in the Dera Bugti area," Ghulam Nabi Shahani, an elder of the rival Shahani Masoori tribe, said. "He was in attendance for two hours, and his brothers also joined proceedings later."
Nabi also alledged that Mir Tariq's guards held a man from his tribe hostage till all 13 girls were handed over along with a Rs3 million (about $30,000) fine.

Un-Islamic practice

"Nowhere does Islam say it is okay to treat women like commodities instead of human beings." - Fiza Batool Gilani, Goodwill Ambassador

Child marriage - known as "swara" in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, "vani" in Punjab, "sang chati" in Sindh, and "vani" and "lajai" in Balochistan - are enacted in disturbingly large swathes of Pakistan and reinforced by customs that treat women as commodities.
Despite the fact that Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, which refers to early marriage as the marriage of people less than 18 years of age, 30 per cent of all marriages in the country fall in the category of child marriages, according to the Rahnuma-Family Planning Association of Pakistan.

"These young girls can be subject to rape while still minors," said Samar Minallah, a human rights activist who in 2004 filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the handing over of women as compensation to settle disputes. While Minallah's petition is still being heard, the vani of at least 70 girls has been blocked by the court since.

At a gathering of women parliamentarians and child marriage survivors organised by a local NGO, 15-year-old Shagufta, from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's capital city of Peshwar, revealed that she was forcibly married at 10 to a boy of the same age. "It seemed like they just wanted a domestic servant," she said.

Rukhsana, also from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was 11 when she was married to a 20-year-old man. "On the first night, my mother-in-law forced me to spend the night with my father-in-law and said this was their custom," she recounted.

Fiza Batool Gilani, the goodwill ambassador for Women's Empowerment, decried the practices as "totally un-Islamic".

"Nowhere does Islam say it is okay to treat women like commodities instead of human beings," Gilani said.

Formally, these marriages are prohibited in Pakistan under the Child Marriages Restraint Act, 1929, which punishes offenders with one-month imprisonment and/or a fine of Rs1000 (approximately $12).
But the law, according to many observers, is incomplete and hard to implement.
"Conviction under this law does not serve to nullify the marriage, nor is child marriage a cognisable offence, which means that the police cannot intervene directly," Usma Tahir, a policy manager at ActionAid pakistan, said.
Power politics

Government officials are often quick to trot out a list of fresh pro-women legislation enacted by the Pakistan People's Party-led coalition government in the last four and a half years.
However, many who hail from areas where vani and other crimes against women are prevalent remain sceptical that the new legislations will change anything.

"All these laws will mean nothing as long as parallel systems of governance and administration are in place," former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Wazir Jogezai said. "As things stand now, half the problems here are solved through Jirgas and the rest through constitutional laws and electoral politics. This confusion only leads to more problems."

"All authority in the provinces is vested in the security forces, which enjoy complete impunity. There is a political government in these areas in name only." - I A Rehman

Explaining the recent vani case in Dera Bugti, Jogazai said the problem arose because Mir Tariq, who allegedly chaired the Jirga that delivered the extraordinary punishment, was both a parliamentarian and a tribal head. "When you have to balance the demands of justice, the tribe and your voters, justice will inevitably take the back seat."

Meanwhile, officials in the federal government say they are unable to fully enforce laws in the provinces after a recent amendment to the constitution placed women's rights under the jurisdiction of provincial leadership.

"It is now for the provinces to make comprehensive legislation and implement them to protect women from harmful traditional practices," Gilani explained.

Read more at:  http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/2012101792934276587.html

Inside Story Child brides: How old is too young to marry?

The United Nations is warning that millions more young girls are destined to become child brides, saying if current trends hold many will be under the age of 15.
The marrying off of young girls is a culturally sensitive issue, and one that draws a range of reactions from different countries and different communities.
Critics argue it is fraught with danger, damage and discrimination - a violation of human rights.

And the UN is worried, predicting that 140 million girls will become child brides between 2011 and 2020. That is more than 14 million girls a year it says will marry too young – some 39,000 each and every day.
Furthermore, it is warning that of these, 50 million will be under the age of 15.

The UN has identified 42 countries where one in three children under the age of 18 are married.
Statistics gathered over the last decade found that in both proportions and numbers, most child marriages take place in rural sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Niger has the highest rate with 75 percent of girls marrying before the age of 18, and Bangladesh is ranked the highest in Asia - at 66 percent.

Moving down the list, more African countries feature prominently, like Mali with 55 percent and Burkina Faso with 48 percent.
Morocco is one of the countries where child marriage is on the increase.

The latest figures show the number of young girls getting married rose to 35,000 in 2010, up from 30,000 just two years before.

Rights groups are calling for a total ban on the practise, and the government looks set to bow to pressure to change a law allowing those accused of raping minors to escape punishment by marrying their young victims.
Research suggests girls who get married when they are young are at greater risk from violence and health problems.
The International Centre for Research on Women says girls younger than 15 are five times more likely to die in child birth than women in their twenties, and pregnancy is now the leading cause of death for women aged 15-19 in the developing world.possible parents want to get rid of her."
It adds that girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and sexual abuse, and child brides affected in this way show feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and severe depression.


Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/03/2013389502292887.html

Trading a 13-year-old daughter for a new wife. Rangina, Afghanistan

Rangina’s mother died when she was 12. In 2003, at the age of 13 she was forcibly married in abadaal (exchange) marriage as her father wanted to acquire a new wife. According to Rangina, the man that she was forced to marry had mental health problems.
“I was my father’s only daughter, so when my mother died and he wanted a new wife he gave me away in exchange. The man he gave me to was mentally ill. I did not want to marry him, but I had no choice. My father did not listen, and my mother was dead. My father thought only about his new marriage, not about me, his daughter.”

Rangina says that her in-laws verbally and physically abused her:
“All the family members were beating me, and calling me names. I was so miserable. My husband couldn’t speak properly, so I didn’t understand what he was saying. My mother-in-law would always say to me, “You are worthless—see how little your father cared about you—he married you to my son, and he is like this, he is mentally ill.”

My father thought only about his new marriage, not about me, his daughter.After one year, Rangina ran away. Despite coming from a remote and highly conservative area of eastern Afghanistan, she managed to journey to the capital, a perilous trip for a young woman to make alone. She made contact with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, who arranged for her to stay in a shelter. Her husband’s family found out, and came to Kabul to demand her return. She told us,

“They came and asked for me to come back. I said no, they kept coming. I always say no. I don’t want to go back. I can’t go back. They want to kill me.”

An official who wishes to remain anonymous told Human Rights Watch that the family discovered the location of the shelter and made threats against her and her staff. The family enlisted the support of various powerful regional political figures to pressure the government to return Rangina to them. A delegation of elders from her province, with the backing of various senators and members of parliament, called on the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to return her. The Ministry of Interior also supported their efforts, despite the illegality of her marriage under Afghan law.

The case was even debated in parliament, where a majority of MPs who spoke did so in favor of Rangina being returned to her husband’s family. Some MPs also called for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to be closed because it was encouraging girls to run away from home. The director of the shelter says that the debate became very personalized:
“In parliament they named me, they said I was hiding her, and that I wasn’t Muslim, I was Western, I was working for foreigners, for foreign ideas. They got 500 signatures against shelters, against me, against the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and took it to the president.”

The lobbying attempts of the husband’s family culminated in a meeting that included representatives from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Court, parliamentary representatives, and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

President Karzai became directly involved. Instead of ensuring protection for Rangina and enforcement of Afghanistan’s marriage law, he urged Rangina to trust her husband’s family when they promised they would not harm her. Rangina refused and said:
“I told Karzai that if he was so confident then he could send his wife or daughter to my village instead of me.”

The cousin of Rangina’s husband, Haji Munowar Khan, led the campaign to have her returned. He told a BBC reporter that Rangina would not be returned to her husband against her will, and she could instead be given to one of his brothers:
“We don’t want our woman to be in Kabul, we can’t allow her to have another husband. We’re not foreigners–we’re not Russians–we’re not unbelievers, we’re Muslims, and we are Pashtuns, and for Pashtuns three things matter–our religion, our women, and our country. To defend these three things we will give up our lives. We’ve promised we won’t do anything to her, and if she comes back to our village we’ll promise again, we won’t harm her at all.”

Rangina has now been living in a shelter for five years. Her attempts to gain a legal separation from her husband, which began in 2007, have so far been unsuccessful. Rangina’s husband has repeatedly failed to appear in court, which under the civil code can be grounds for granting a woman a separation. However, there has still been no resolution.

In August 2007, the Supreme Court accepted a request to have the case heard by the Family Court in Kabul on the grounds that her life could be endangered if she traveled to her home province. However, the Family Court demanded witnesses to prove that she suffered abuse and that her husband was mentally ill. Nobody from her home province agreed to testify on her behalf, because of fear of retribution from the husband’s family in the region. No witness protection program exists. Rangina said:
“I don’t like the courts or the judges. Whenever I go there they say, “Why did you run away? Why did you do this, why you do that?” And now they ask for evidence even though they know I cannot give it to them. It is too dangerous.”

According to a human rights worker connected to the case, the Family Court wants to delay a decision and wait for a presidential intervention:
“The judges are supportive, but they are too afraid to take responsibility because they have no security. There will be danger for the judge if she takes a decision.”

“Nobody wants to come to support her. They are saying that her husband is a good man, and he gave her clothes, food, medicine. They say she’s a bad lady to leave her home, she’s not a good lady.”

When asked why the court could not provide a separation on the grounds that the marriage had been illegal in the first place, since Rangina was underage and forced to marry, the judge said:
“She was 13 when she married this person. This was against our law. But if she didn’t want to marry her husband then she should have come to us at that time and made her objections. Instead she stayed with him for two years and she was happy with that, and only when she’s 15 does she come to us and complain, so then we can’t do anything.”

Faced with pressure from the president, hostility from powerful MPs, and extralegal arguments by the head of the Family Court, women and girls in situations such as Rangina have little reason to trust the state or government to protect them.

Source:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/trading-a-13-year-old-daughter-for-a-new-wife/

A year-long campaign titled "Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood" was launched on Sunday by Rutgers World Population Foundation to promote responsible fatherhood.

The campaign will be implemented across Pakistan with local partners’ aid and was inaugurated to commemorate World Father’s Day, which is celebrated annually on June 16.

Father's Day is celebrated across the world to honour fathers and appreciate their sacrifices, love and contributions towards their children’s well-being and development. It was inaugurated in the United States in 1910 to complement the World Mother’s Day, which lauds the critical role mothers play in their children’s lives.

The campaign focuses on transforming gender stereotypes in society which dictate that men are only the breadwinners of the family and have no care giving role towards their children, which is traditionally seen as the woman’s job.

The campaign highlights how fathers are far less emotionally expressive towards their children due to these prescribed masculine roles, stunting the overall development of the family and children’s personality growth.

The Rutgers Foundation’s initiative on Father’s Day seeks to eliminate child marriages and domestic violence and help create an enabling environment where women and children rights are not violated.

The campaign will conclude on the next World Father's Day in 2014.

The Day was also celebrated across the city with great enthusiasm among the affluent classes. Young and old citizens alike presented tokens of their love to their fathers. The most popular gifts included watches, clothing items, mugs, cakes, wall hangings and other such Father’s Day memorabilia.

Speaking outside a local fast food chain, Faizan and his children Omer and Alia informed that they had taken time away from the rest of the family for a special Father’s Day lunch. “I work six days a week, and by the time I reach home my dad is already in bed. I hardly get to spend time with him, so today I am taking him out for lunch so we can catch up and bond over some pizza,” said Omer. A very happy Faizan told that his children had bought him a special Father’s Day themed cake and his favourite perfume to honour his striving for their upbringing. “I have worked as many as 13 hours a day so my kids could have whatever they want or need. Today, my son and daughter are returning the favour,” said a proud, beaming Faizan.

However, on the other side of the socio-economic ladder, Father’s Day passed by unobserved. Speaking to a few domestic workers in Sector I-8 revealed that the lower classes were completely ignorant of this international day. “There is a grand party at my employer’s house tonight, so I have been busy with arrangements since the morning, buying meat and vegetables from the market and working with the mechanic to ensure the electricity generator’s functioning. I have not seen my father in six months as he does not live in Lahore and my village is quite far away. I do not know anything about Father’s Day,” said Abdullah, a driver.

In addition to ignorance, the working classes also expressed disinterest in celebrating Father’s Day: “I earn just enough to feed and clothe myself. With rising prices, just paying our room’s rent has become almost impossible. My old father is happy enough that I can put roti in his stomach once a day, he does not expect any gifts or cake,” said Sakina, a sweeper.

The class differential with respect to Father’s Day celebrations cannot be ignored, and stems largely from the fact that most Father’s Day gifts and items are far beyond the economic reach of the poor. According to Nazir, who wanted to acquire a gift for his father, most shops housing these commodities are found in posh locales, and sell items with a minimum price of Rs 1000. “On and around Father’s Day, high end shops located in Jinnah Super almost double prices of Father’s Day items. I cannot afford such gifts as I am from a modest background, so I have just gotten a card for my father. It’s the thought that counts!” he explained.

A shopkeeper in Aabpara Market informed that many elite gift shops earned myriad profits through events like World Father’s Day. “We do great business on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Most of the items are imported from China, and sold with a hefty profit to the local distributor. Valentine’s Day is undoubtedly the most successful.”

Booming business on Father’s Day raises questions about its utility for some. “I understand that people want to honour their parents for all the love they have born them. But in a country ravaged by a severe economic crisis, is it wise to spend thousands on useless merchandise?” said a student, Ali, who chose to celebrate Father’s Day by helping his servant buy a schoolbag for his child. According to Ali, his act is closer to the Day’s spirit.

Others also condemn Father’s Day celebrations like Ali, albeit on a different count. “These celebrations are Christian, and testify to a flagrant disregard for our religion, culture and customs. Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are un-Islamic, and their commemoration in Pakistan shows how our nation is foolishly accepting Western cultural imperialism,” said Usman bin Waqar, a mullah at a small mosque in Sector I-10.

However, despite dissenting voices like Usama and Ali, events like World Father’s Day continue to witness rising popularity in Pakistan’s urban areas. - See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/06/16/city/islamabad/a-gift-for-my-father/#sthash.SYRwPow5.dpuf

Love you daddy

Father's Day is a celebration honouring fathers and appreciating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and their influence in society. The day is observed in Pakistan on 16th of every June to pay tribute to overwhelming role of fathers in their families.
On the day (today), Rutgers World Population Foundation (WPF) will launch a yearlong campaign titled "Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood" across Pakistan to promote active fatherhood and responsibility for the care and upbringing of children. This campaign will be implemented across Pakistan with the help of local implementing partners including Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi.
The campaign is focussed on transforming rigid perception of our society where men are generally expected to be only providers and breadwinners while women and girls are generally expected to give care for children and be chiefly responsible for reproductive aspects of family life. Due to these set patterns, fathers are usually more responsive to children but less expressive in showing emotions towards his children which is affecting the overall development of family and are the main reasons behind increasing trend of various social issues, explained Amina Sarwar, communication officer at Rutgers WPF.
This initiative has been carried out for the promotion of responsive and care giving fathers for prevention of child marriages and domestic violence to create an enabling environment where women and children can access their basic human rights, she informed. Responsible and supportive fathers are the focal point of this campaign and will be engaged to advocate for providing a non-violent environment to children at home to transform their behavior towards strengthening gender equality and empowering women. Most importantly, this campaign will effectively contribute to strengthen the advocacy efforts for required legislative reforms on domestic violence and child marriages.
Pakistan is a patriarchal society where men are the primary authority and women are subordinate. This has serious implications on women's health and social development as well as on men's health and interpersonal relationship. For any behavioral and environmental change to lead to a long-term impact on women's lives it is critical to engage men. Men can be engaged as fathers for providing a non-violent environment to the children at home to transform their children behavior towards strengthening gender equality and empowering women.
For the campaign, local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and community leaders will be sensitised on the concept of responsible fatherhood through varied awareness raising activities. Media campaigns including radio messages and television talk shows are the most important feature to sensitise different stakeholders on the targeted issues at all levels. For more effective results, there is also need of civil society organisations working on the same thematic area to join hands for this initiative. The campaign will be concluded on next father's day in 2014.

Source:  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/islamabad/16-Jun-2013/love-you-daddy

Active fatherhood drive launched

A year-long campaign was launched Sunday to promote active fatherhood and responsibility for the care and upbringing of children.The campaign titled, "Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood"  was launched by Rutgers World Population Foundation as part of the commemoration of Father's Day, which was observed on Sunday.  Father's Day is celebrated on June 16 every year to honour fathers and appreciate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and their influence in society. This campaign will be implemented across Pakistan with the help of local implementing partners.

The drive is focused on transforming rigid perception of the society where men are generally expected to be only providers and breadwinners while women and girls are generally expected to care for children.
Due to these set patterns, fathers are usually more responsive but less expressive in showing emotions towards his children which is affecting the overall development of family and is the main reason behind increasing trend of various social issues.
This initiative has been carried out for the promotion of responsive and care giving fathers for prevention of child marriages and domestic violence to create an enabling environment where women and children can access their basic human rights.
Responsible and supportive fathers are the focal point of this campaign. Most importantly, this campaign will effectively contribute to strengthen the advocacy efforts for required legislative reforms on domestic violence and child marriages.
The campaign will conclude on next father's day in 2014.

 

Source:  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/islamabad/17-Jun-2013/active-fatherhood-drive-launched

Solidarity in the face of hostility: civil society and the media work together to end child marriage in Pakistan

In Pakistan, 24% of girls marry before they turn 18. However this figure is challenged by activists who claim the ratio might be higher.

The province of Sindh, where Sujag Sansar (SSO) operates, is one of the most affected regions in the country with 33% of girls forced into marriage, usually to much older men.

The numbers are even higher in rural and remote areas like Dadu District, where Ghulam Rasool worked. It’s in those marginalised areas that grassroots organisations like ours work to challenge deeply rooted views of women and girls.

In rural Pakistan, child marriage is strongly associated with culture and custom. Those who question practices such as vani or swara, where girls are given away in marriage to settle disputes, regularly face anger from tribal authorities.

Anti-child marriage activists are often threatened, accused of interfering with family issues or violating the honour of a tribe, and journalists like Ghulam Rasool face the same hostility too.

SUPPORTING JOURNALISTS TO HIGHLIGHT CHILD MARRIAGE

That’s why it is crucial for civil society to work together with local journalists.

After all, the media plays such an important role in reporting cases of human rights violations. They can talk about it in the press, on the internet; they can convince people on a larger scale than we can.

Though most journalists know little about child marriage, they are eager to learn. So we invite them to workshops to discuss how they can get involved. We hand out factsheets with information on the scope of child marriage, locally and globally, and its consequences for girls’ development.

Many of them don’t know that child marriage happens so often and in so many countries. Once they understand its repercussions, they feel empowered to take action.

Our trainings attract many journalists. You see many journalists in Pakistan, particularly in the regions, work on a voluntary basis: they don’t get paid and rarely get training opportunities. We train them to cover child marriage cases and women’s issues in a sensitive way. It’s a valuable skill to have. Before, you would read stories glamourising the child bride or minimising her plight but it doesn’t happen as much now.

Moral support is an important component of the workshops as well because journalists can feel discouraged by the slow pace of change. For reporters to know that by highlighting the problem of child marriage they strengthen our grassroots efforts to address the practice, this lessens their feeling of isolation and encourages them to continue.

“OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL MEDIA IS ONE OF SOLIDARITY AND INTEGRITY”

There used to be a gulf between civil society and journalists. They pictured us sitting in big offices, making money. Now, they see what our work is like, and our relationship has changed to one of solidarity and integrity.

It’s not uncommon to see child marriages stopped by the joint efforts of journalists and civil society. And the message that child marriage is a violation of girls’ human rights reaches more and more people every day.

Ghulam Rasool’s death did not intimidate journalists, a reporter told me at a workshop. Quite the opposite: they are even more determined to continue their friend’s mission.

Together, SSO and local journalists will continue exposing violations of human rights, no matter how powerful the culprits are, until child marriage is no longer.

Source:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/solidarity-in-the-face-of-hostility/

Marriage restraint act

THIS is with reference to the news report on early marriages (Feb 1). It says that according to a UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), signed and ratified by Pakistan in 1990, everyone under the age of 18 was a child. It also deals with the subject of child marriages which was passed in 1929 under the Child Marriage Restraint Act. Furthermore, it said that marriage of minors was a criminal offence. For the purposes of the Act, a ‘minor’ was defined as a person below the age of 18 years. However, a ‘child’ was defined as a male of less than 18 years of age and a female of less than 16 years. The Act imposes a penalty of Rs1,000 and an imprisonment of one month in case of violation. The existing Child Marriages Restraint Act had not yet been able to control childhood marriages. Child marriages are made a cognisable offence which was currently treated as a non-cognisable offence.In Pakistan, poverty, illiteracy, social and cultural practices are factors cited for the prevalence of child marriages. An early marriage leads to early conception, which ultimately affects the health of a teenage girl i.e. more than one-third of maternal deaths in the country occurred among females who were married between the ages of 14 and 17 years. Typically, enormous pressures to bear children are put on child brides. In the developing countries, the leading cause of death for young girls between the ages of 15 and 18 is early pregnancy. Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and a child is defined as below the age of 18 for both males and females. While in the Marriage Restraint Act 1929, there is the age discrimination between males and females which is a clear violation of child rights. The government had also signed the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and was bound to formulate laws according to its global commitments but it was not being done. Therefore, there is a need that an amendment to the Marriage Restraint Act 1929 be expedited, as it calls for raising the age of girls to 18 (a child, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in any person under the age of 18), the same as that of boys. Substantive increase in the penalty to at least Rs100,000 and immediate enforcement of the same must also be ensured. 

Source:  http://beta.dawn.com/news/783751/marriage-restraint-act

Celebrating Father’s Day: Honouring Pakistan’s courageous fathers

Despite living in a patriarchal society, there are many fathers in Pakistan who struggle to improve their children’s livelihoods. They take stands against taboos and face stiff resistance from within and outside family circles but their hardships almost always go unnoticed.

Every year on June 16, Father’s Day is observed to honour these men and pay tribute to their courage in addition to promoting responsible fatherhood.

Ghulam Sarwar, 51, a father of three — two daughters and one son — belongs to a small village near Gujrat. He left school after completing seventh grade and married a deaf and dumb woman who passed away in 2009.

“Initially, I was reluctant to send my daughters to school, but decided that they needed education to be able to stand on their own feet. The rewards are there for all to see — both of them graduated and are now working at reputable organisations,” said Sarwar.

He recalled the period when his wife was taken ill and he had to take on more responsibility at home.

“I did laundry, dishwashing, cooking, cleaning, babysitting and took care of my wife who was hospitalised at the time,” he said.

He said that his brothers and close relatives had left him because of his decision to send his daughters to university. “I did not lose my determination despite facing opposition from my family after my wife’s death,” he said.

Similarly, for the family of 49-year-old Akbar Ali, from Mardan, sending girls to school is considered a sin. Ali is a daily wage labourer who lives in Islamabad and has three daughters and one son.

 “I was living a comfortable life at my village. None of my family members had ever been to school and the majority of children had become victims of early child marriages,” he said.

Ali said it was very painful to see the village girls’ future being destroyed by marrying them off at an age where they didn’t even know what marriage meant.

This is what prompted him to migrate to Islamabad in the hope of making a fresh start for his family.

All of his children are now in school and Ali remains hopeful that they will one day become model citizens.

“Though I belong to a conservative society, I believe that no country can progress without educating its female population,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an effort to promote responsible fatherhood, Rutgers World Population Foundation (Rutgers WPF) on the eve of Father’s Day officially launched a yearlong campaign titled “Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood” across the country.

“Fathers play an essential role in strengthening family ties and nurturing their children,” said Rutgers WPF Country Representative for Pakistan Qadeer Baig.

Link: http://tribune.com.pk/story/563764/celebrating-fathers-day-honouring-pakistans-courageous-fathers/

Campaign launched to promote active fatherhood

A year-long campaign was launched Sunday to promote active fatherhood and responsibility for the care and upbringing of children. The campaign titled, “Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood”  was launched by Rutgers World Population Foundation as part of the commemoration of Father’s Day, which was obsered on Sunday. Father’s Day is celebrated on June 16 every year to honour fathers  and appreciate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and their influence in society.
This campaign will be implemented across Pakistan with the help of local implementing partners.

The drive is focused on transforming rigid perception of the society where men are generally expected to be only providers and breadwinners while women and girls are generally expected to care for children.
Due to these set patterns, fathers are usually more responsive but less expressive in showing emotions towards his children which is affecting the overall development of family and is the main reason behind increasing trend of various social issues.
This initiative has been carried out for the promotion of responsive and care giving fathers for prevention of child marriages and domestic violence to create an enabling environment where women and children can access their basic human rights.
Responsible and supportive fathers are the focal point of this campaign. Most importantly, this campaign will effectively contribute to strengthen the advocacy efforts for required legislative reforms on domestic violence and child marriages.

The campaign will conclude on next father’s day in 2014. 

 

Link: http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238919&Itemid=2

 

2 held in child marriage case

Maidan police arrested a person for allegedly engaging his 10-year-old girl with a 49-year-old man apparently in order to get his loan written off.
A person named Bajaoray of Thaan , tehsil Madyan of Swat district some time back had borrowed Rs 20,000 from one Shamdar of the same area. Later, Shamdar repeatedly demanded for the repayment of his money, however, Bajaoray who could not pay it due to his weak financial position. Shamdar took worst benefit of this situation and offered to marry with his 10-year-old daughter Ramin bibi, which he accepted. However, when his daughter Ramin knew about her engagement with the 49-year-old man she approached the local police for rescue.
The police filed a case against the culprits.
“The father of Ramin, Shamdar and Bajaoray have been arrested and interrogation is in process,” said DSP Madyan Police Naveed Khan while talking to this scribe.

 http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/06-May-2013/2-held-in-child-marriage-case

 

 

Hosna’s journey, Bangladesh

Hosna is 14 years old and has found out that her father has arranged her marriage. She wishes to continue her studies and does not want to marry now.

“If I was married tomorrow, what would I lose? My wellbeing? My vision? My dreams?”

Read more at:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/hosnas-journey-bangladesh/

Robena’s Story, Afghanistan

When Robena was 16-years-old, her father killed a person, and gave Robena to the family he had hurt in order to compensate for the death. She, too, became a victim of her father’s crime.

She was forced to marry one of the men in the victim’s family, and they had a son together. When her son was only six-months-old, her husband died and Robena’s life turned miserable.

After a year passed, Robena’s husband’s family decided to marry her to her brother-in-law, a much older man that she did not want to marry. Robena was always crying and thinking about how she could escape from this family but could not see a way out. She decided to kill herself before the marriage to the old man could take place.

One day, a woman by the name of Sima came to her house. Sima was a member of the local widows association in Afghanistan that is supported by CARE. Sima asked Robena how her life was going since the death of her husband. Robena started crying and told her story to Sima. In turn, Sima informed Robena about women’s rights and vowed to help her escape her fate.

Together, they thought of a possible solution: Robena would agree to marry her younger brother-in-law instead of the older one. They took the issue to the widows association, who supported Robena’s right to not be forced into a marriage that she didn’t desire.

Robena went home and informed her husband’s family that she would agree to marriage if it was to her younger brother-in-law. After a few days of intervention from the widows association, the family accepted her proposal. Robena married her younger brother-in-law, and she says she now leads a happy life.

Link:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/robenas-story-afghanistan/

Child marriage in Pakistan

According to a recent report, 24 per cent of girls married under the age of 18 worldwide last year were from rural Pakistan, whereas 18 per cent were from the country’s urban areas. The issue of child marriage raises several health concerns for young girls, some of which include pregnancy complications, health risks for babies born to young mothers and the risk of death. The report said that girls pregnant under the age of 15 have a five times greater chance of dying compared with girls pregnant in their 20s. Early marriage can also thwart personal development and growth as a child constantly undergoes physical, mental and emotional changes before reaching adulthood. In Pakistan, young girls are sometimes married off to older men, which poses the risk that the girls might become conditioned to acting submissive towards their older male counterparts. This can also stunt their personality development.

One obvious thing that girls married young miss out on is education. At a seminar recently held on the issue, it was reported that girls married young have more chances of remaining poor than those who marry later. Moreover, girls should first be equipped with at least basic education so that they have something to rely on should a spouse end the marriage or pass away.

While the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 says that the police cannot intervene directly in underage marriage, implying that Sharia law is to be consulted, the government needs to intervene. Child marriage should be prohibited and the legal age of marriage should be raised from 16 to 18. Pakistan is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children which defines child marriage below the age of 18; yet, the country allows marriages at age 16. The civil society also needs to work towards eradicating certain false assumptions in our culture, such as that religion sanctions child marriage. This seminar is a step in the positive direction but we hope that our lawmakers also take notice and amend child marriage laws.

Link:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/488062/child-marriage-in-pakistan/

Why Is It So Hard to Combat Child Marriage?

Across the developing world, ten million girls are married off each year before the age of eighteen, usually against their will. One in seven of those girls is younger than fifteen. In some places this problem is well known; in India, the efforts of both international and domestic rights groups have started conversations and enabled laws that try to curb this longstanding disturbing practice. But elsewhere, the tradition of child marriage holds firm. The challenges faced by a female child bride are profound: the dwindling of opportunities for education, the loss of any hope for economic independence, the threat of infant mortality—the total narrowing of the girl’s life. And while child marriage is technically illegal in much of the world, laws in many jursidictions are rarely enforced. Years go by and more girls are added to the ranks of those who forfeit their futures to live the life of a child bride.

The Ford Foundation released an interactive world map on child marriage this week that collates and threads together the research of dozens of NGOs across the world. Their project aims to make it easier for both people at home to better grasp the global challenge that child marriage presents and for disparate advocacy groups to see themselves as part of a larger movement. Although the final and long-lasting efforts must be made by national governments themselves, the Ford Foundation feels there is also a place for international groups to provide ties and support. “We believe very strongly that if you’re looking at long term change, there is absolutely a role for outside partners who may bring in certain expertise…[and] help connect groups to resources,” says Margaret Hempel, the director of the organization’s Sexuality, and Reproductive Health and Rights program, “but in the end the lasting solutions will come from the people who are most directly effected.”

Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/06/28/why-is-it-so-hard-to-combat-child-marriage/

Vani: Minors married to settle dispute

Two-year-old Tooba and 10-year-old sister Kausar are paying the price of a family dispute.

When Muhammad Ramazan kidnapped a girl named Sakina Bibi in Yarak Village, DI Khan, a few weeks ago, a family feud erupted between the Ramazan and Naimatullah families, said a Yarak police official. Sakina is Naimatullah’s sister.

A five-member meeting (panchayat) was held in the village to resolve the dispute between the two families. It was decided that Ramazan’s daughters Tooba and Kausar will be married to eight-year-old Samiullah and 12-year-old Matiullah, respectively. Both boys are Naimatullah’s sons.

 Yarak police SHO Syed Marjan has lodged an FIR in a vani case against Ramazan and others members of the village, said the police official, adding that Ramazan has been arrested while the search for others continues.

Muallana Latifullah, who performed the nikah of the minors, managed to escape but the police are searching for him.

Link:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/519252/vani-minors-married-to-settle-dispute/

Under ‘vani’: Minor girl married off to 50-year-old

A 10-year-old girl was forcibly married off to a 50-year-old man Malahanwala, Hafizabad under the ‘vani’ custom to compensate for her father’s second marriage in district.

Muhammad Akram, the girl’s father, had abducted a woman named Munawaran Bibi, whom he later married out of love, reported the police. Muawaran was Akram’s second wife.

Following this, the village ‘panchayat’ (court) decided to give Akram’s daughter’s hand in marriage to Munawaran’s middle-aged brother Falak Sher.

The FIR filed by the girl’s uncle reveals that Falak Sher had barged into Akram’s house along with seven other men, including a prayer-leader from a local mosque, and performed a forced nuptial ritual in the presence of Akram’s first wife.

Mukhtar Hussain, an Investigation Officer in the case informed that the young girl had escaped from Falak Sher’s custody and returned to her parents’ home. The process of raids continues to ensure the immediate arrest of the all the accused nominated in the FIR.

The FIR, registered with Police Station Jalalpur Bhattiaan on Saturday, nominates nine persons including Falak Sher, the prayer leader and seven members of the ‘panchayat.’ The area’s people said that the local administration and police had remained tight lipped and reluctant to take any action against the accused. However, police officials claimed that they had registered a case against the accused without any delay when approached by complainants.

Link:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/563888/under-vani-minor-girl-married-off-to-50-year-old/

Father’s Day, a celebration to appreciate fatherhood

Father’s Day is a celebration honouring fathers and appreciating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and their influence in society. The day is observed in Pakistan on 16th of every June to pay tribute to overwhelming role of fathers in their families.

On the day, Rutgers WPF has launched a yearlong campaign titled “Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood” has been launched across Pakistan to promote active fatherhood and responsibility for the care and upbringing of children. This campaign will be implemented across Pakistan with the help of local implementing partners.

The campaign is focused on transforming rigid perception of our society where men are generally expected to be only providers and breadwinners while women and girls are generally expected to give care for children and be chiefly responsible for reproductive aspects of family life.

Due to these set patterns, fathers are usually more responsive to children but less expressive in showing emotions towards his children which is affecting the overall development of family and are the main reasons behind increasing trend of various social issues.

This initiative has been carried out for the promotion of responsive and care giving fathers for prevention of child marriages and domestic violence to create an enabling environment where women and children can access their basic human rights.

Responsible and supportive fathers are the focal point of this campaign and will be engaged to advocate for providing a non-violent environment to children at home to transform their behaviour towards strengthening gender equality and empowering women.

Most importantly, this campaign will effectively contribute to strengthen the advocacy efforts for required legislative reforms on domestic violence and child marriages.

For the campaign, local CSOs and community leaders will be sensitised on the concept of responsible fatherhood through varied awareness raising activities.

Media campaigns including radio messages and television talk shows are the most important feature to sensitise different stakeholders on the targeted issues at all levels.

For more effective results, there is also need of civil society organizations working on the same thematic area to join hands for this initiative. The campaign will be concluded on next father’s day in 2014. 

Link:  http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=209985

Celebrating Father’s Day: Honouring Pakistan’s courageous fathers

Despite living in a patriarchal society, there are many fathers in Pakistan who struggle to improve their children’s livelihoods. They take stands against taboos and face stiff resistance from within and outside family circles but their hardships almost always go unnoticed.

Every year on June 16, Father’s Day is observed to honour these men and pay tribute to their courage in addition to promoting responsible fatherhood.

Ghulam Sarwar, 51, a father of three — two daughters and one son — belongs to a small village near Gujrat. He left school after completing seventh grade and married a deaf and dumb woman who passed away in 2009.

“Initially, I was reluctant to send my daughters to school, but decided that they needed education to be able to stand on their own feet. The rewards are there for all to see — both of them graduated and are now working at reputable organisations,” said Sarwar.

He recalled the period when his wife was taken ill and he had to take on more responsibility at home.

“I did laundry, dishwashing, cooking, cleaning, babysitting and took care of my wife who was hospitalised at the time,” he said.

He said that his brothers and close relatives had left him because of his decision to send his daughters to university. “I did not lose my determination despite facing opposition from my family after my wife’s death,” he said.

Similarly, for the family of 49-year-old Akbar Ali, from Mardan, sending girls to school is considered a sin. Ali is a daily wage labourer who lives in Islamabad and has three daughters and one son.

“I was living a comfortable life at my village. None of my family members had ever been to school and the majority of children had become victims of early child marriages,” he said.

Ali said it was very painful to see the village girls’ future being destroyed by marrying them off at an age where they didn’t even know what marriage meant.

This is what prompted him to migrate to Islamabad in the hope of making a fresh start for his family.

All of his children are now in school and Ali remains hopeful that they will one day become model citizens.

“Though I belong to a conservative society, I believe that no country can progress without educating its female population,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an effort to promote responsible fatherhood, Rutgers World Population Foundation (Rutgers WPF) on the eve of Father’s Day officially launched a yearlong campaign titled “Greening Pakistan-Promoting Responsible Fatherhood” across the country.

“Fathers play an essential role in strengthening family ties and nurturing their children,” said Rutgers WPF Country Representative for Pakistan Qadeer Baig.

Link:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/563764/celebrating-fathers-day-honouring-pakistans-courageous-fathers/

Maternal and child health: Achieving MDGs a distant dream for Pakistan

Despite a significant decrease in the maternal and under-five mortality rate in the country from 1990 to 2011, achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 seems like a distant dream.

This was revealed in an annual report, Accountability for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival- The 2013 Update, launched at Women Deliver – the third global conference on women’s rights, concluded recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Launched by Countdown to 2015, a global movement of academies, governments and international agencies, the report also highlight countries’ achievements in increasing coverage of key interventions and identifies remaining challenges many countries face in reaching all women and children life-saving services such as undernutrition, equity as core component of all health strategies and levels of fertility and the unmet need for family planning.

The MDG targets calculated by Countdown to 2015 which Pakistan should aim for is to reduce maternal mortality rate to 123 deaths per 100,000 live births and under-five mortality ratio to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2015. According to the report, the demand for family planning is 54%, antenatal care is 28%, postnatal care is 39% and for exclusive breastfeeding practices is 37%. Around 32% children below five years of age are underweight and 44% are stunted.

The under-five mortality rate in 1990 was 122 deaths per 1,000 live births which declined to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011. The average annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality rate remained 2.5 %, while it was 3.0 % for the maternal mortality rate from 1990 to 2010.

Recommendations

To reduce maternal mortality the report recommends Pakistan continue efforts to increase coverage of high-quality services including family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, skilled delivery and emergency obstetric care.

To reduce under-five mortality rate, there is a need for huge investment in health services for pregnant women and the newborn baby, including the prevention of preterm births and stillbirths and scale-up of effective low-cost interventions, it stated.

Movements to integrate nutrition initiatives into national reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health programmes must continue to be prioritised in all these countries.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Rutgers World Population Fund Country Representative for Pakistan Qadeer Baig said the slow progress in achieving MDGs 4 and 5 was due to the inefficiency of the health system and extremely low investment in maternal and child health.

“Lets see how the new government will tackle this issue and how a new framework would be developed to replace MDGs after 2015,” he said. Pathfinder International Director Programmes Dr Haris Ahmed added that funding allocation was inconsistent with the national requirement of MDGs.

Source:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/561069/maternal-and-child-health-achieving-mdgs-a-distant-dream-for-pakistan/

Family development: ‘Promoting responsible fatherhood reduces domestic violence’

Promoting responsible fatherhood can help prevent child marriages and domestic violence and contribute to an environment whereby women and children have access to their basic rights.

This was the crux of a discussion held on Monday at a local hotel organised by the Rutgers World Population Foundation (WPF).

Rutgers WPF Assistant Programme Officer Natasha Sajjad said fathers were usually more responsive to children despite being less emotionally expressive with them.

They didn’t spend as much time with children due to other engagements, she added.

“These set patterns are affecting families’ overall development and are the major cause for increasing incidents of domestic violence and early child marriages,” she said.

Patterns of gender inequality were borne out of the stereotypical norms of masculinity and men’s gender identities, said Sajjad.

“This has serious implications for women’s health and social development as well as for men’s health and interpersonal relationships,” she said.

Sajjad referred to a household survey recently conducted in Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Jafferabad and Naseerabad, for which around 5,000 women were interviewed.

While 62 per cent of respondents said they had witnessed domestic violence during their childhoods, 75 per cent said their children had witnessed the physical abuse inflicted upon them by their husbands.

Exposure to such violence had a negative impact on young minds and led to aggressive streaks in their character, she said.

Rutgers WPF Assistant Programme Officer Amina Sarwar said it was critical for women to engage men in childcare activities at home if they wished to see long-term behavioural changes in children.

“Men should play their role in creating an environment which transforms their children’s behaviour so that their sons understand the meaning of gender equality and their daughters understand the concept of female empowerment,” she said.

Sajjad and Sarwar announced that Rutgers WPF would commence a yearlong ‘Green Ribbon’ campaign promoting responsible fatherhood from June 16 on Father’s Day.

Source:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/561534/family-development-promoting-responsible-fatherhood-reduces-domestic-violence/

The menace of swara

On September 10, the police arrested 10 men who are implicated in the ordering of a 13-year-old girl to marry an elderly man in Mingora, in order to settle a feud between two families. The tradition, known as swara, is a Pashtun custom of forcibly marrying girls to men of rival families to settle disputes. In this case, the girl was used to compensate for an extramarital affair her brother had with a woman from the other family, else the girl’s family would have had to pay Rs253,000 or face imprisonment.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this story is that the jirga took place at a police station, which later arrested the offenders. Hopefully, the public pressure that ensued once the story appeared in the media, changed the minds of the authorities. The police, along with the jirga, are at fault for trying to make the girl act against her will. This is highly condemnable as the police are responsible for protecting the rights of citizens.

Conversely, the girl and her family who raised their voice and reported the case to lawyers and the court should be commended for their courage because in Pakistan, often stories only get public attention after a wrong has been committed, rather than before, when someone comes forward to bring attention to an imminent tragedy. The positive outcome in this story is that attention was brought to the issue and action was taken before injustice was delivered.

Now, facing pressure from the courts, the police have formed a committee to investigate the case. While it is a welcome move, a committee should not have to be formed every time tragedy or scandals strike. Specialised teams should already be in place to investigate specific issues that plague our society, such as swara and ‘honour’ killings, domestic, child and labour abuse, youth labour and beggar gangs. Additionally, a committee should be overseeing or working collaboratively with jirgas, if they must exist at all, to ensure their rulings in all cases are just.

Source:  http://tribune.com.pk/story/439352/the-menace-of-swara/

42% of underage married girls from Pakistan

More than 60 million girls around the world were married under the age of 18 last year, out of which 24% were from rural Pakistan and 18% from urban areas, said Blue Veins Programme Coordinator Qamar Naseem at a seminar.

Civil society organizations came together on Tuesday to highlight the issue of child marriages and the role of Union Councils in this regard. The seminar was held under the umbrella of Action Aid in collaboration with Blue Veins and Citizen Rights and Sustainable Development (CRSD).

Naseem added that if child marriages continue at this rate, an additional 100 million underage girls will be married within the next decade. “That is 25,000 new child brides every day for the next 10 years,” he said.

A large number of civil society members including lawyers, government officials, teachers and members of non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations attended the seminar.

Poverty plays a central role in causing and perpetuating early marriage. “Poor families often have few resources to support healthy alternatives for girls, such as giving them proper education,” he added.

In families with limited resources, child marriage is often seen as a way to provide for a daughter’s future. However, girls who marry young have more chances of remaining poor.

Early marriage thwarts a girl’s chances of acquiring education, endangers her health and cuts short her personal growth and development, participants said.

The risk of death for pregnant girls under the age of 15 is five times higher than for women in their twenties. Taken together, the costs of this practice are too high to be ignored. Societies cannot progress when the common practice of marriage dooms them to a life of poverty,” he said.

A religious scholar Maulana Ghousul Kabir expressed his views about early marriages in light of Islam. He said that Islamic law does not sanction child marriages and urged religious clerics to come forward and clear the ‘myth’ that surrounds this issue.

During the session, child marriage survivors also shared their testimonies with the participants and helped them understand how the issue reduces women empowerment.

CRSD Director Idress Kamal said that child marriage has affected many women. “The problem with early marriages is that the bride is immature herself. If she gets pregnant, she is usually underweight and malnourished. Her pregnancy causes many complications, and health risks for the babies in these cases are also high,” he said.

“If a girl is married off at an age when she herself should be playing with dolls, how can she handle a baby or go through delivery?” he questioned.

An Action Aid member, Alia Rasheed, said that gender discrimination is the main reason behind marrying daughters at an early age. “While birth of sons is celebrated, daughters are often seen as burdens.”

Source:http://tribune.com.pk/story/487659/child-marriages-42-of-underage-married-girls-from-pakistan/

Trapped after being forced to say “I do”. Ratnashri, India

Ratnashri Pandey is from Madhya Pradesh. Her family pressured her to marry soon after she passed her class nine examinations. Pandey told Human Rights Watch, “I didn’t want to be married, but a girl’s wishes are not respected. Everyone said I should get married…I got married.” Pandey never set eyes on the groom; not even his photograph. “I told my nana (mother’s father) I wanted to study after marriage.”

She described her struggle to continue her education — juggling household work, fighting with her husband and in-laws to delay pregnancy, and enduring insults and beatings because of her decisions. She separated from her husband because he started beating their young daughter, and eventually divorced him.

She completed her master’s degree and worked as a teacher. But because the income was not enough to support both her and her children, Pandey dreamed of becoming a civil servant. Leaving her children in her parents’ care, she went to another city, moved into a women’s hostel, and started preparing for the State civil services examinations. Her parents spent nearly Rs.300,000 to help. She passed the preliminary examination in 2006. But State policy stopped her in her tracks a month before she was to sit the main examination.

The Madhya Pradesh authorities informed Pandey that she was ineligible to take the exam because she was married as a child, she said. She filed a case in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which granted her permission to write the examination pending a decision on the merits of the case. She did not pass the first time. After another round of litigation, she sat the exam again in 2009. “I spent more time in courts than with my books,” she said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the government rule disqualifying applicants who had married as children. She appealed to the Supreme Court, and awaits the verdict.

 

Source:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/trapped-after-being-forced-to-say-i-do-ratnashris-story-india/

The burden of being a child bride in Vietnam

“I was on my way home from school. Together with three men, this boy caught me and tied me up. They carried me to the boy’s house and locked me in a small room for three days. His parents brought alcohol and money to my brother’s house. My brother accepted the price and I became the boy’s wife.”

This is the story of 12-year-old May, a member of the Hmong ethnic group from northern Vietnam’s mountainous Ha Giang province. The colourful local culture and dramatic landscapes of the area attract tourists by the busload, but behind this vista of beauty is the little known custom of hai pu (literally “pull wife”) or bride kidnapping. May’s new husband, Pao, the boy who kidnapped her, is also 12 years old and works across the border in China as a labourer. May didn’t know him before the kidnapping.

Stolen dreams

Although illegal in Vietnam, bride kidnapping is regularly practised in Hmong communities. The process involves a boy kidnapping a girl without her or her family’s consent. Once the girl is at the hopeful husband’s home, his parents are obliged to contact the girl’s family, who can either demand her release or accept the marriage. A bride price, to be paid by the boy’s family, is then negotiated.

May is one of 10 million girls around the world each year who are forced into marriage before they are 18. One in every three girls in the developing world is married by the age of 18; one in seven by the age of 15.

Vietnamese law requires men to be at least 20 years old and women to be at least 18 before marrying. Both spouses must also give free consent. But child marriage persists in rural areas like Ha Giang.

Now I’m married, I will life a life like other married girls in the village: taking care of the family, working on the field and giving birth”
May, 12-year-old

May dearly misses her hour-long walk to school. It was on that same path, slick with mud during the rainy season, that she was kidnapped.

“If I don’t get married at this age, I can go to school and nurture my dream to be a teacher. However, if I become a teacher, no men in the village will want to marry me. They don’t like highly-educated women. They prefer the young ones who can work hard in the field,” she says. “Now I’m married, I will live a life like other married girls in the village: taking care of the family, working on the field and giving birth.”

Left on the shelf

Girls in Ha Giang are considered “left on the shelf” if they are not married by age 18, says Tanushree Soni, Plan International’s gender specialist in Asia.

“Gender is society’s expectation of the roles of men and women, boys and girls. If a society assigns high value and expectations to nurturing roles for women, then girls will be socialised and prepared to perform them.”

These nurturing roles include cooking, cleaning, planting crops and starting a family. Child marriage disproportionately affects the educational opportunities and achievements of married girls, adds Soni.

“Child marriage is closely associated with lower education and economic status of girls. Child brides are less able than older or unmarried girls to access schooling and income-generating opportunities.”

Research by Plan International found that 33 per cent of married boys in Ha Giang have never enrolled in school, compared with 67 per cent of married girls, while only 17 per cent of married girls complete their secondary education compared with 48 per cent of married boys.

Despite opportunities for girls to complete primary and secondary education in Ha Giang, traditional gender roles and expectations are holding girls like May back.

“I’m not happy, but because I am a girl, I cannot do anything to change this,” she says.

Source: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/the-burden-of-being-a-child-bride-in-vietnam/

A mother too soon: Isabel, East Timor

I left school because I was four months pregnant,” says Isabel, a 17-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of Dili, capital of Timor-Leste (East Timor). Her daughter, Klarisa, is now seven months old and her husband, Joao, is 20 and works as a plumber. The couple married soon after Isabel fell pregnant.

In Timor-Leste, girls can legally be married at 15, boys at 18.

Almost 19 per cent of girls in Timor-Leste are married by the time they are 19. The fertility rate is one of the highest in the region with women having, on average, six children. Marriage, and child marriage in particular, is often a consequence of pregnancy for girls in Timor-Leste.

Isabel dropped out of high school in Grade 10 because she “felt embarrassed” and because it’s a violation of school rules to be pregnant and enrolled as a student.

Girls and boys in Timor-Leste have limited access to family planning services, which are only available to married couples, and little knowledge of sexual education.

“Young people don’t know how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy,” says Isabel.

Child marriage is a plague in Southeast Asia, deeply rooted in poverty, gender inequality and traditional practices. May, Nuan and Isabel have to live with the consequences, forced to drop out of school and risk their lives.

“I still want to enjoy my life and study like my other friends,” says Isabel, “but I can’t because I am a mother and have to stay at home to look after my baby.”

Source:  http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/girls-voices/

Is this a real U-turn? World Bank president speaks at WHA

In an inspiring speech at the 66^th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation, the President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim said: “Anyone who has provided health care to poor people knows that even tiny out-of-pocket charges can drastically reduce their use of needed services.  This is both unjust and unnecessary.”

Twenty years after the infamous World Bank “Investing in Health” report that set the path towards implementation of user fees and privatisation of health care, no less than the President of the World Bank dares to criticise user fees. The evidence is now very clear that health user fees punish poor people and prevent them from accessing life-saving treatment, especially women and marginalised groups. It is about time to abolish user fees globally. Yet to do so successfully, countries need financial and technical support from the WHO and the World Bank as well as from other donors. The World Bank’s advice and technical assistance at a country level will continue to be a decisive factor in supporting countries to move towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and determining whether or not the World Bank meets its commitments.

And it is not just poor people who face problems with payment for health care. People living above the poverty line and the so-called lower middle class are also badly affected.  According to WHO estimates, every year 100 million people are pushed into poverty and 150 million more suffer economic hardship due to the cost of health care.

For me personally these are not just dry statistics. The numbers represent people that I know very well: family, friends, and neighbours – many of whom have chronic illnesses that require life-long health care which drain the family income and assets

In his speech Jim Kim outlined five specific ways in which the World Bank will support countries to realise UHC: enhancing analytic work and support for strengthening health systems; helping countries to reach the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on maternal and child mortality; developing a monitoring framework for UHC coverage in collaboration with the WHO; intensifying work on the science of delivery; and stepping up efforts to improve health through action in other sectors that impact on health.

These are welcome commitments. However, as the English say: “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, which means you have to eat the pudding to know what is inside it. The challenge for the President and his team is now to translate these words into practical measures that bring real benefit to poor people. Still, Jim Kim and the health team behind him represent a breath of fresh air at the World Bank.

Evidence  from countries which have achieved or are on their way to achieving UHC, shows that universal coverage cannot happen without major, scaled up public investments in health. Jim Kim highlighted the case of Thailand where the state financed health care expansion against World Bank advice. It is not surprising that the Thai delegate at WHA said that UHC is possible to achieve. Evidence also shows that to reach the poorest and most vulnerable people, governments should expand public delivery of health services. This is clearly the message from the successes in Ethiopia where 30,000 health workers were trained in just 3 years – against the advice of donors!

One important lesson from countries such as Thailand and Ethiopia is that policies to achieve UHC should not be defined by the existing low government health budgets. Such approaches will automatically lead to designing financial systems that place the burden of payment on patients. Countries need help to reform their tax systems to build a fair and progressive system where not only well-off people pay their share but also foreign companies pay their tax duties.

I was inspired by Jim Kim’s speech and his personal commitments to UHC and poverty eradication. Now I am watching to see what it means for my family, friends and neighbours who so desperately need access to free, quality health care.

Source:  http://www.globalhealthcheck.org/?p=1452